Writing/Plays

Daniela Holtz is a professional writer of screenplays, plays and radio drama. Alongside her own writing she also edits other peoples’ text in film and radio drama.

Plays:

The play ‘Nachtgeschwister’ (published by Felix-Bloch-erben Berlin) follows the obsessive romantic relationship between an Eastern and Western writer, who meet on a book tour in the West. Based on the autobiographical novels from Wolfgang Hilbig (Provisorium) and Natascha Wodein (Nachtgechwister) came ‘Nachgeschwister’; set in Berlin and Nürnberg following the fall of the Berlin Wall, it explores the limits of human relationships and the helpless yearning for a better life. How far are you prepared to go when you have found your soulmate? This is a relationship that journeys through the darkness, and only one can come out alive.

She: ‘You become ever stranger to me. We can’t continue. How can we live together? And where?’ He: For all I care we can live in a rubbish dump.
She: “There is nowhere I can offer you.”
He: “The only thing that matters is being with you. You know much more about the world than I do.
She: “But it’s not enough. I need something to hold on to.’

Radio plays:

The radio play ‘nachgeschwister/provisorisch’ read by Martina Gedeck and Christain Redl and directed by Ulrich Lampen, was produced and broadcast by mdr Figaro and since then has also been transmitted by deutschlandradio kultur, deutschlandfunk as well as SWR. "nachtgeschwister/provisorisch” was chosen as ‘radio play of the month’; by the Deutschen Akademie of Darstellenden Kuenste in December 2015. The jury made their decision on the following grounds:

“ (…) It is to the great credit of the two actors, Anja Schneider and Daniela Holtz, who, as script-writers, manage to unite these two texts and to create intense dialogue. This experiment has previously been brought to the stage; here, in the audio medium, Martina Gedeck and Christian Redle express the increasingly confused voices of "She" and of (the masculine counterpart)"He", intent on destroying his strengths. Out of this comes a powerful radio play, as shocking as it is aesthetically fascinating.

Writing/Screenplays:

Completed: The script "Näher zu Dir" ("Closer to you") focuses on three women from different generations, who have settled into their relationships and loneliness in their own various ways. A storm, which whips through the city with unexpected power, forces the women into a decisive situation: either they tear down the walls of lies in their lives or they start to say goodbye to the person they always wanted to be.

Developing: The play ‘You Porn Mongo’ addresses the increasingly early pornografication of youth culture. Not only must Ella assert herself in school against the popular clique, she must also contend with the fact that her little sister Mona, who was born with down’s syndrome, does not fit into the teenage world’s image of perfection. Over the course of the story it is Mona who teaches Ella how fulfilling life can be when you are able to ignore the
pressure of external images.

In development: “Riga” - A novel

Editing experience

2013 Script development of the stage adaptation of “Slaughter House 5”, a Wenke Hardt production,
2012/13 Edited the radio play ‘Teufels Spielplatz’ (The Devil’s Playground) by Levander Berg, produced by Deutschlandradio
2011 Script development of the screenplay “Two Lives” by Georg Maas (preselected for the Oscar nomination for ‘Best Foreign Film’ 2014)